Allen Weinstein is the current Archivist of the United States.
The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The first Archivist, R.D.W. Connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archives was established as an independent Federal agency by Congress. The Archivists served as subordinate officials of the General Services Administration from 1949 until the National Archives and Records Administration became an independent agency again on April 1, 1985. Allen Weinstein is now serving as the ninth Archivist of the United States, having been sworn in on February 16, 2005.
The Archivist is responsible for safeguarding and making available for study all the permanently valuable records of the Federal Government, including the actual Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which are displayed in the Archives' main building in Washington, D.C.. Under Public Law No. 98-497, the Archivist also must maintain custody of state legislative ratifications of amendments to the United States Constitution and proclaim a particular amendment duly ratified and part of the Constitution, if the legislatures of at least three-quarters of the states approve the proposed amendment.
